Optical navigation systems operate to estimate movements between the optical navigation systems and target surfaces to perform tracking operations. An optical navigation system uses a light source, such as a light-emitting diode (LED) or a laser diode, to illuminate a region of a target surface and an image sensor to receive the light reflected from the target surface to successively capture frames of image data of the target surface. The optical navigation system compares the successive image frames and estimates the relative movements between the optical navigation system and the target surface based on the comparison between the current image frame and a previous image frame. The comparison is based on detecting and computing displacements of features in the captured frames of image data.
Optical navigation systems are commonly used in optical computer mice to track the movements of the mice relative to the surfaces on which the mice are manually manipulated. The movements of a computer mouse are used to control a cursor on a monitor of a computer system. The accuracy of an optical computer mouse with respect to the positioning of the cursor mostly depends on the resolution of the mouse. Higher resolution means that a user can more accurately position the cursor at specific locations on the monitor.
A concern with a conventional optical computer mouse is that tracking errors in the optical navigation system may cause jitter movements of the cursor being controlled by the optical computer mouse. These jitter movements can even occur when the optical computer mouse is stationary. Jitter movements are particular annoying to gamers since gamers manipulate the cursor for longer durations than other optical mouse users.
In view of this concern, there is need for a system and method for reducing jitter during an optical navigation operation.